China’s e-commerce race

If it sometimes seems as though the momentum of e-commerce in North America has the force of a runaway train, chew on this: e-commerce sales in China are estimated to surpass those in North America this year. Indeed, China’s consumers have taken to buying online as quickly as multinationals took to producing goods in China. There are a couple key dynamics driving this surge of $265 billion in e-commerce revenue. First, a cadre of e-commerce retailers offer a wide range of products, along with enticing services like free shipping and returns. And second, the nature of China’s economic expansion means consumers in far-flung places want goods, but don’t always have access to them in brick-and-mortar shops. Those consumers ...